Lockheed Martin Canada has laid off 20 employees in Ottawa and another 11 at its facilities in Montreal and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The employees were informed of the layoffs on Oct. 3, according to a Lockheed Martin statement to Defence Watch.

Irving Shipbuilding and Public Services and Procurement Canada have announced Oct. 19 that a BAE-Lockheed Martin consortium has been selected as the “preferred bidder” for the Canadian Surface Combatant program. That selection will now set off negotiations which in turn will – if all is successful – produce a contract. The entire project is worth $60 billion, with an estimated 60 per cent for the actual ship. Lockheed Martin Canada is acting as the prime for the team which offered BAE’s Type 26 ship.

Lockheed Martin did not provide details on what areas the employees who were laid off had worked in.

“This decision was not taken lightly and was the result of the company’s need to rebalance the workforce reflecting current volume and skill sets,” the Lockheed Martin statement noted. “As a project-driven company, we routinely experience peaks and valleys related to work volume and review our business operations to stay competitive and agile.”

Lockheed Martin Canada “remains in a growth mode and as the CSC program progresses, our hiring campaign will ramp up to ensure we attract and retain top talent to best support our customer’s needs,” the statement added.

Industry sources say some of the layoffs can be attributed to the recent loss of the Halifax-class underwater warfare suite upgrade contract, which went to General Dynamics Mission Systems – Canada.